Whisperings of the Dead
by strangebloke
Summary: The dead should be remembered.  Nico asks several ghosts to write down their life story.  Short POVs from multiple perspectives.
1. Nico's foreward

If you have found this book lying around somewhere, know that this collection is not for your eyes. Do not read it.

To everyone else:

My name is Nico Di Angelo. I am a child of Hades, and as such I am alone. The ghosts speak to me and tell me their secrets, and I learn many important things, but they are things that other mortals are not meant to hear. Those who walk only in the land of the living cannot bear to hear the whispering of the dead.

Nonetheless, it is important that the stories of people long dead not be forgotten, and so I write this book, a collection of the memories of dead heroes. Hopefully my future brothers and sisters will read this and these great people will be remembered.

~Nico Di Angelo

**Author's Note: just so you know what to expect, this story will be a series of one-shots. Each chapter will be from the POV of a different (dead) character. I hope you all enjoy!**


	2. Love Tough

Family problems. Everyone's got them, right? Everyone's parents get into fights, everyone's older brothers are mean, and no one gets along with their relatives. The people you love the most cause you the most trouble. At least, that's what they always tell you, as if that's supposed to make you feel better…

The first person to tell me that was Miss Crops, my elementary school guidance counselor. At the time, I thought it was a load of bullshit. I mean, sure, Lucy Jane's parents were divorced, John had six annoying little brothers, and Annie Carver hadn't seen either of her parents for almost four months, but come on! At least Lucy still _had_ both parents. At least John's brothers looked up to him and would play with him. Annie… I didn't really envy Annie, but at least her dad didn't shuffle into the house, drunk, at three in the morning. Or expect her to fix food for him. Or bring home weird ladies every other weekend.

Yeah, sure, Miss Crops, everyone has stupid family problems, but face it, mine are a little worse than most, ok?

My dad was, and still is, to the best of my knowledge, a loose-living, womanizing loser of the worst description. If I had been smart, I would've left him alone and lived my own life, but because I'm stupid and can't stand an unclean room, I basically ended up acting as his unpaid housekeeper for as long as I stuck around there. I have a lot of regrets, but leaving my dad was definitely NOT one of them.

Not that I ever meant to run away. I was only a kid still, and I didn't have a clue about halfbloods, or the gods, or… anything, really. I mean, sure, I'd seen things. People with horns sprouting out of their heads, flying horses, ladies with snake bodies, but I didn't really have a clue as to what they were. I guess dad never bothered to tell me. Thankfully none of them seemed to think I was worth attacking, which was just fine with me.

Then I had my twelfth birthday, and all Hades broke loose. I've talked with other people since, and I guess I really had it pretty easy compared to some other demigods, but as far as I'm concerned, it was bad enough. Thankfully, I got picked up by an experienced satyr who knew his job, and after a few scary adventures and one crazy cab ride, I was at camp.

Some people talk about coming to camp for the first time like it was the worst thing that ever happened to them. For me, it was the best. I had stuff in common with these people, my dad wasn't around anymore, and for the first time, I felt like I had a real family.

I remember not being able to wait until my mom claimed me. I was practically certain I was a daughter of Athena. After all, I was pretty, clever, and I had a real eye for design. That sounds pretty much like a daughter of Athena, right? Wrong.

Looking back, I realize that it should have been obvious. My hair, my glamour, it should have been a dead giveaway. I'm pretty sure that Chiron had been gently trying to tell me that I wasn't an Athenian, no matter how much I wanted to think that. At the time I just remember being really, really, disappointed. I mean, what do children of Aphrodite get? Magical cosmetic powers? Magical heartbreaking powers? Magical good looks? Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, but when you have a cyclops on your tail, those skills really don't do you any good. Of all the halfbloods, children of Aphrodite are the greatest in number, and have the worst survival rate. Mom isn't exactly the most observant mother out there.

O yeah, mom. _Wonderful_ lady. She's the sort of person you love and hate at the same time. For my part, I mostly hate her. I mean, all the gods are sluts, but Aphrodite… sheesh. What a bimbo. Not only does she produce more halfbloods than any other Olympian, (most of whom die before reaching camp.) she also has ongoing affairs with just about every god out there. As far as I can tell, the only god safe from her is her husband, Hephaestus. Nothing puts a bigger kick in your self-esteem than the treasured knowledge that your mom is a godess of sluts.

I asked Chiron about it once. His response: "Everyone here has family problems."

I think I heard that somewhere before…

I hadn't believed Miss Crops when she told me that in third grade. I did believe Chiron now, there at camp half-blood. Almost every kid in camp had serious issues with their parents. Ares is abusive and demanding. Athena hovers over her kids' decisions and is sure to tell them if she thinks that they are making an error in judgment. Dionysus is… Dionysus. Heh. Chiron has Kronos for an old man, for crying out loud.

But the worst part about being a daughter of Aphrodite, and the part that got me into the most trouble, was the effect my powers had on the people around me. Most of the time, love is complicated enough. You develop a crush, maybe the guy likes you back, maybe he doesn't, maybe you are pushing things to fast, maybe you are moving too slow. You wonder, you work, you talk, and you finally think you have everything figured out and then… something happens. He moves out of state, he loses interest, you find someone new, and however it ends, there is almost always pain. yup. Love's tough .

But when you are a daughter of Aphrodite? Heh. Good luck. Imagine this: Your mom is the godess of love. This means that getting the guys is as easy as snapping your fingers. Sounds good? Wrong. Here's the catch: it's all fake. Using your powers to make someone fall in love with you is like hiring someone to be your best friend. It just isn't the same.

Even if by some miracle you get into a real relationship, you can never be sure just how paper thin things are. For example, I fell for Luke Castellan in a big way. Partly I liked him because he was attractive and friendly, partly because he was popular and skilled, but mostly because he didn't seem to be interested in me. I felt that I could get him to like me just by talking to him, then I could be sure that nothing was fake. He was my big lifeline. My one hope.

Yeah, right.

Within a year, we found out that he was a traitor, he left camp, and that was that. A part of me left with him, but I got over it. I met Beckendorf.

I had seen him around, of course, but I only really met him just a little while after Luke left. We were on guard duty together in Capture the flag. He was kind, polite, and of course quite serious the whole time, but he didn't act weird or spaz out like most of the guys did around me and my sisters. That impressed me. I felt like, hey, this guy is real. It wasn't like I was in love with the, (not yet anyway.) but I did hang out with him a lot more.

After a few weeks though, we were a lot more than friends, a fact which everyone seemed to realize. It only took him one year to get around to asking me out. Hardly surprising. He knew the stories. My mom's terrible reputation: just another lovely hand-me-down. Thankfully, Beckendorf was smart enough to see past all that crap.

Everything was going just great. I mean, the world was probably going to end, all of our hopes were placed on the incredibly stupid Percy Jackson himself, and the possibilities of our survival were getting lower every day, but hey! I was in love! All's well, right? Wrong again.

One night, Luke sent me an Iris message: "Come meet me, we need to talk. I may be able to keep you and Beckendorf out of the line of fire."

I am such an idiot.

This was Luke Castellan, the traitor. Luke Castellan the backbiter. Luke Castellan who poisoned the tree that once was his best friend.

And I trusted him. Why? Because love makes you do stupid things.

I let him plant a little cursed necklace on me, and he "promised on the styx" that no harm would come to Beckendorf or I. For all intents and purposes, I was now the guy's slave. I didn't have to tell him anything. He could just pick my brain. The curse was so strong that I wasn't even able to tell anyone. Sucky.

But it was alright. I was safe, my boyfriend was safe, and all was well, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong!

I believed Luke's lie right up until Beckendorf died, burnt by his own explosion. Not that it mattered how he died, as far as Luke's "oath" went. He was a titan now, or almost so. He could break an oath on the styx and get away with that. I should've realized it, too. I did, after it was too late.

Percy, the ever-self-conscious hero, knew that someone was spying, but wouldn't even stoop to looking around. Every time he walked by I wanted to shout, "I'm betraying you all!" but I couldn't. He didn't see me for a spy. He did see that I was down and tried to cheer me up, which just made me feel sick. In the end, I did what I should have done at the beginning. I left the battlefield and went back to camp. Heh. No way I was going to be spying for Kronos there! I hope that I kind of made up for some of the terrible things I did. Heh. I ended up in Elysium with Beckendorf, anyway.

So what is the big message to this? Hades if I know. It's just the story of my life. I guess if you want to take something away from this, just remember that although love of any type is dangerous and might get you hurt, it's one of the few really good things in life. So be careful out there. Love tough.

* * *

Here lies Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. I found her ghost roaming the hills of Elysium. Her spirit rests in peace and honor. May she be remembered.

* * *

**A/N:I would like to state to all my readers that I AM, in fact, a heterosexual male. Thanks for the feedback guys. I appreciate it. I am going to keep my author's notes short, so if you want to hear from me, review or send a message. I'm already about halfway through the next chapter. I will give you a hint. Its another girl.**


	3. Duty

They know me for what I was: a hopeless traitor. Its true, and I won't deny it, but that isn't how I want to be remembered. I'm going to go back to the mortal realm, and when I get back here, I should have a story more worth telling.

* * *

This is the memorial that Luke Castellan would leave behind, and it saddens me, because he should be remembered as the hero that slew Kronos. Perhaps not all stories should be remembered.

Hero. The word denotes a great person; one who is high-minded, selfless, and still humble. A hero is someone who is willing to make sacrifices for others. If everyone could only see the sort of people that the word was based off, they would see what a jest it all is.

Heroes. There is nothing heroic about them. You will find no group of people more arrogant, self-serving, or petty. Achilles, an arrogant, petulant, glory-hound, cried for his mother like a baby the first time that his life was threatened. Bellerophon arrogantly tried to ride the into Olympus on Pegasus, as if he was a god. Hercules brutally murdered his own family in a rage, and Agamemnon traded women around like plundered cattle.

But they are remembered. They are honored. They are heroes to men everywhere. These vile men are called heroes, without having any virtue besides their strength in battle.

They have no concept of duty, no idea of a greater good. Children of Ares fight for a love of war, Children of Athena, Hermes or Hephaestus, to show off their cleverness. Children of Poseidon or Zeus do nothing if it doesn't mean glory for themselves. Children of Aphrodite usually don't fight at all.

Yes, a few great heroes fight bravely and selflessly, but I can count them on just one hand. Orpheus, Odysseus, Ajax, and Perseus Jackson were all good men. But they are alone among the numberless great heroes that I have met.

Ah yes. The invincible Perseus Jackson. I remember him glaring at me murderously when little Bianca became a huntress. The poor boy didn't understand just what we were giving her. She would never have had her heart broken. She would have every joy of friendship for all eternity. It took Perseus a while to comprehend that. I wasn't surprised. Most heroes aren't capable of understanding why a girl would want to take a vow of everlasting service and celibacy. They can't think of any pleasure greater than the pleasure of being used shamefully by them. To them, lust is everything.

I thought that Perseus was a man like that. So many great heroes are. With time I discovered my error. Perseus didn't think that the Bianca would have a bad life, he just thought that we were letting her run from the world. He was ever a boy that wanted to change things, to make things better. He couldn't understand why someone would want things to stay the same forever. He was one of the last of many hundreds of heroes that I had seen in my time, but I will always remember him as being one of the truest.

Perseus couldn't understand why you would want things to always stay the same. Thalia could, all too well. I remember her well. Thalia Grace, the poor girl hopelessly needing respect and friendship, the poor girl who lashed out at us violently, when we were trying to give her everything she wanted. She had always wanted things to change from the way they were when she was a kid, her drunken mother coming in at odd hours, emotionally abusing her sometimes. She couldn't deal with a mother that could just _lose_ a son of hers and not even seem to care. She wanted a perfect family, because that spelled stability to her.

Just look at the little family she made out of her ragtag friends. Luke and her were little Annabeth's protective parents that were following dear Uncle Grover to his house in New York where everything would be fine and happy. That was what she thought, and that was why we wanted her in the huntresses. That was why we wanted Bianca. They understood the meaning of duty, understood what it meant to look out for others.

Poor girl.

All she wanted was to have friends who she could depend on and trust. We offered that to her but she refused. I suppose she understood duty too well. She couldn't give up on her "family," however far her "husband" fell and however tall her "daughter" grew. She didn't give up even when Luke poisoned her. She didn't give up when Luke captured and misused Annabeth. I died before she finally came to terms with Luke's betrayal, as I am told she did, so I cannot say how she did it. I can only say that I am happy for her.

I am happy for her, because she now knows true stability. She knows the meaning of duty, and she will serve Artemis well. I myself used to be very similar to her. When Hercules abandoned me, I had no idea what to do with my life. I was skilled in warfare, young, and strong, but Hercules, the man who I had set all my dreams and plans around, was gone. I am the sort of person that will always be in service to a greater cause. Once I served Hercules, the man I loved, and he failed me. Artemis was a more faithful master. She gave me purpose when purpose had been lost.

In duty is found purpose, and in purpose, joy. I searched for it for many years before I met my master Artemis.

* * *

This is the story of Zoe Nightshade, true servant of Artemis for many years. No hero has slain more beasts, or fought more wars than she. May she be remembered with honor.

* * *

***A/N: ugh this chapter came out horribly. Hope you people out there don't mind if I cry in a corner for a while. btw, any requests for who you would like to hear from next? I'm going to do Beckendorf, but I am open to suggestions.**


	4. Sense love doesn't make it

I don't know really why anyone would want to hear my story. I mean, I didn't really do anything in the Titan war except get killed pretty early on. I mean, sure, I helped blow up a boat, but all I really did there was light the fuse and let Percy distract the guards. Big deal. It's not like I'm that great of a speaker either. But if you really do want to hear me out, this is how I see things.

People can be pretty hard to understand sometimes. Now, I realize that what I said is kind of obvious, but it's really weird when you think about it a little more. People, who are so complex, and make so little sense, can work together pretty well. I mean, when I am designing a machine, the number one rule I keep in mind is: keep it simple. The more complicated the parts are, the more things there are that can go horribly wrong. But for some reason, people, who are way harder to understand than any machine, can work together pretty well.

I mean, take the group that came with me to Camp half-blood. We were all just a bunch of scared, unpredictable kids. Things were changing so fast that we didn't know what to do, and we were facing off against some of our worst nightmares. By all rights, our group should never been able to hang together for three hundred miles, like it did. None of us except our satyr guide had any experience, and it was pure chance that we found each other at all.

But we didn't fall apart. Each of us gradually figured out what our role was in the group, and we filled it. Will Solace was the look-out, I got weapons for everyone, and Ethan Nakamura was the self-designated asskicker. It's kind of amazing that we worked together so well. I mean, when you take three totally random kids, shake them up, take them away from their families, (or orphanage, in my case.) set a couple dozen nightmarish monsters on them, and then expect them to travel three hundred miles like that, you wouldn't really expect them to succeed. Cramming random parts together doesn't get you good results, and mashing random people together shouldn't either, but somehow, it does.

Not, of course, that you can just lock any group of people in a room and get them to work together. If my companions on the way to camp had been, for example, Ares' daughter Clarisse and Drew from Aphrodite cabin, I don't know if I would have made it. It doesn't matter how talented people are, if you want to live, you need team players; people who want to help.

Cabin Hephaestus was always way better at working together than the other cabins, like Ares, for example. We didn't fight each other very much, and everybody was looking for a way to out. Same thing with Will, Ethan, and I. We knew that if we didn't hang together, we would end up skewered on the business end of a minotaur's horn. Nobody wanted to be that jerk that let that happen.

As I was saying though. What happened with the three of us, wouldn't happen with everybody. Some people just have one shtick, and if they can't help the team out by doing their one thing, they're useless. When all you have is a hammer, all of your problems look like nails. When you are Ares' kid and all you can do is fight, guess how you are going to want to solve all of you problems. Same thing for Athena cabin. Or Hephaestus cabin, really. Or… well you get the idea. Most of us are only good at one thing, and you'll do well to keep that in mind when you assemble your team for a quest.

Heh. Quests. I remember my first one. We had to kill the hydra. Now, the hydra is no pushover, but this still shouldn't have been that hard of a quest. Lee from Apollo cabin was there, complete with writing notebook and magic shield. Travis Stoll from Hermes cabin was with me too, and me? Well, I had a flamethrower. Like I was saying, it should have been easy. I mean, we could let Travis take care of supplies on the way there. Once we found the hydra, we could count on Lee blinding it with his shield, and then I could let the flamethrower torch it. Everyone had their role. It should've been easy. It wasn't.

Problem number one: we weren't paying attention. We were enjoying our time outside of camp, moving slow and taking in the view. Everything was great until things went horribly wrong. Travis went off stealing supplies we didn't need from a doughnut store, and Lee was focused on writing his awful haikus again, leaving me to be the lookout.

Problem number two: my eyesight sucks. You wouldn't think something that size could sneak up on much of anything, but I didn't notice the hydra until it was about twenty feet from Lee.

It charged Lee, who looked up just in time to see ten toothy mouths spitting acid at him. He whipped his magic shield up and blocked the acid. I charged in with the flamethrower, but the hydra slapped me aside. The flamethrower cushioned my fall, but unfortunately the nozzle broke. In the middle of all of this chaos, Travis came back from the store. His arms were full of stolen doughnuts and pastries, which he dropped instantly, and charged into the fray.

We all somehow survived the next ten minutes, and I managed to climb a tree and jump onto its back, which really didn't do that much good since I had to use both of my hands just to hang on. Lee got a bright idea, and shouted it too me. I took the flamethrower, still strapped to my back, and broke the explosive fuel all over the hydra. I had to let go, though, and the beast flung me off, which was just as well, because a few seconds later, Lee's shield let out a bright flash, and the fluid burst into flames all over the hydra.

I had scratches all over my face, Lee had a few burns from being too close, and Lee would've died from poison had we not had some ambrosia nearby. Talk about lucky. We should have died. We completed the quest, but we didn't really feel too good about it. Our teamwork had sucked.

See, the truth is that I am useless when it comes to getting people to work together. I should've told Lee to get off his butt and stand watch. I should've stopped Travis from running away to steal stuff. I should have kept everyone in line, tracked the beast down, and, torched it before it could find us. I didn't, though, even though I knew that we were in danger of failing the quest. I don't know how to handle people. I'm no leader. I just do as others do.

I guess that that's a trait I got from the man. He always says: "I'm good with machines, boy, not people." Judging by personal experience, I would say that he is about right. I mean, he isn't just good with machines, he is freaking amazing. Let me give you an idea. A typical car has about seven primary operating systems, the engine being one of them. Some of the really advanced stuff we build, like the bronze dragon, have close to one-hundred, plus enchantments. I've never seen Hephaestus make with less than three-hundred-forty seven systems. He can make things that slobs like us only dream of. Ask him to spend some time with his kids, however, and he is totally helpless.

I remember my first conversation with him. "Boy," he said gruffly, "I'm happy to see you made it. How's the arm?"

I don't remember now, but somehow I had broken my arm while getting to camp. It wasn't really bothering me, and I had a thousand other things I wanted to ask him, like, "What was my mom like?" or "What did you think of us three killing that Minotaur?" All I said was, "My arm's fine, I guess."

He paused awkwardly. "Good. The doctors here are as good as they come. You needn't worry."

I scratched my head. Worry was the thing farthest from my mind. I thought that I would change topics. "So… What was mom like?"

He let out the breath that he had been holding, and blushed. "I'm sorry son, I… I'm good with… with… Gah. You mother was amazing. She… She… was so friendly and happy. Her smile could light up any dark day. Brilliant too. She used too…"

All at once, I failed in my desperate attempt to not lose my calm, serious expression. No matter how hard I tried to hold them back, the tears were going to come. They ran down my cheeks in a thick, happy stream.

Hephaestus saw my tears and winced. His hairy face contorted with pain. "Oh no, I've upset you now. Oh dear. I…

"Its fine." I said, smiling as tears rolled down my face.

Clearly, he didn't understand, but he looked a little relieved. Then I hugged him. Not something I'd do now, but hey, I was twelve, I had never known either of my parents, and now, here was my dad.

When I finally let him go, he was smiling too. He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "One of the things, you will learn about me, boy, is that I'm good with machines, not people."

Not the last time that I'd hear him say that.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not blaming him. I have the exact same problem. People don't make sense to me, and I don't think that they ever will. People can't be dealt with rationally. Machines, on the other hand, always behave in a predicable manner. If the gear ratio is off on a machine, you are not going to get right amount of power. If you don't allow good venting, the machine will overheat. With machines, as long as you take everything into consideration, you are ok. No such luck with human beings.

Take Percy Jackson for example. He's clearly in love with Annabeth, and is always kind of sad when she's not around. As it is, they spend more time together than most serious couples. She's an awesome girl, and she clearly likes him, if jealousy is any indicator. I mean, really, it isn't like I'm going on guesswork here, either. Silena gave me hard confirmation. Apparently Aphrodite herself was interested in their relationship.

So, here is the situation: you have two attractive people that do everything together, you have the fact that they clearly have major crushes on each other, and you have the goddess of love herself gunning for them to get together. All things considered, they should be married by now. I mean, sheesh, how much pushing do you need? Sense, some things make it, people don't.

Not that I'm much better. I mean, how long did it take me to work up the nerve? 2 years? I mean, sure, there was always a bit of bad blood between Aphrodite and Hephaestus cabins, and sure children of Aphrodite were pretty notorious, but really… I mean, Silena was beautiful, kind, helpful, intelligent… everything I wanted and more. What was my problem, you may ask.

I've always been afraid of relationships. I don't have great social skills and I'm always worried that I will hurt someone's feelings by saying something wrong. Usually, I get by simply by not talking very much. You can't say the wrong thing if you say nothing at all, right? You see why I wanted to avoid dating, now? You have to be involved, you have to say the right thing, and there is no way to know what the right thing to say is. I liked Silena a ton, but that only made me more nervous.

Actually, when it comes down to it, she was the one to ask me out. Thankfully that part of the story never got out, or otherwise I would never have been able to live it down. Those last few months that we were a couple were the best and the scariest of my life. I felt like I was flying blind. Every second we spent together was another miraculous second where I didn't mess things up.

When you think about it, it's all kind of ironic. The one thing I couldn't understand ended up giving me more joy than anything else. In the end, I guess that is what I learned from the whole experience, just before I died. Some things don't really make sense, but that isn't a reason to avoid them.

* * *

This record is Charles Beckendorf's, forger of weapons and tamer of the bronze dragon. May he be remembered.


End file.
